Saint-Andre: Foreign imports are stifling French talent... just like your football

The problem with French rugby was hard to detect when only a bone-chilling wind compromised the blue-sky perfection at Marcoussis, the £50million cradle of their game on the southern fringe of Paris.

Philippe Saint-Andre, the head coach, appeared to be relaxed under his woolly hat as his squad went through their drills on one of the manicured pitches that Jacques Chirac, the then French president, opened 11 years ago.

Saint-Andre made the odd Gallic shrug but only in banter with his staff, rather than through exasperation.

Wooden spoon? Thierry Dusautoir (centre) leads his France side in training on Thursday

His predicament, however, is serious and it takes us back to 1957 and France's last 'wooden spoon' in what is now the Six Nations.

Fifty-six winters later, that same piece of non-metallic cutlery threatens Saint-Andre's team after defeat in their first two matches of this year's championship, away to Italy and at home to Wales.

And it was that brutal possibility which explained what was going on - knives out and even sharper words - behind the polished Marcoussis facade.

First, Saint-Andre was facing up to his own errors of judgment by announcing seven changes to France's starting line-up for Saturday's match against England's Grand Slam hopefuls.

Concerned: Philippe Saint-Andre is worried about the numbers of foreign players in the Top 14

So does hooker Benjamin Kayser, the husband of a Kent-born teacher called Andrea. Flanker Antonie Claassen is on the bench.

In a positional change, Wesley Fofana moves to centre.

Then, Saint-Andre made a forceful point about how French rugby is suffering from the same curse as the England football team: an almost ceaseless domestic league flooded with foreign stars.

'In the French league it's good to have foreign players but when you have too many of them, well... Jonathan Sexton has signed to play fly-half for Racing, Jonny Wilkinson is at Toulon, Luke McAlister at Toulouse, Felipe Contepomi at Stade Francais, Brock James at Clermont.

'We need to be careful for the next 15-20 years of French rugby - the situation is similar to Premier League football in England.

'The change was made in England when I was coaching Sale and English rugby seven years ago and they realised they needed to prioritise getting English players playing in the English league, perhaps to the detriment of the clubs' chances in the Heineken Cup.

'You have 40 or 50 young English players ready for international games. At the moment we don't have 40 French players ready for internationals.'

Around 250 foreign players are on the staff of France's Top 14 - twice as many as feature in the 12-strong English Premiership.

South Africans, New Zealanders, Fijians , Georgians, Romanians and Tongans proliferate, not to mention a certain Englishman dear to all our hearts.

'Bringing Wilkinson to Toulon was fantastic because of his professionalism and the way he trained,' continued Saint-Andre.

'He pulled all the young players up with him. But if you have as first choice a foreigner, as second choice a foreigner and as third choice a foreigner, then it's very bad for our country.'

Import: England World Cup winner Jonny Wilkinson plays for French side Toulon

Worry: The France coach believes imports such as Jonathan Sexton (centre) could have a negative effect

And that's not all. Saint- Andre does not get to see enough of hi s player s , and when he does they are worn out.

'An agreement was reached with the clubs so that after the first two games of the Six Nations they wouldn't play Top 14 rugby the weekend before Twickenham,' he said.

'To be honest we would prefer to have 13 or 14 days together before the first Six Nations game like all the other countries.

'We had players playing on Thursday and Friday a week beforehand and we suffered a lot of injuries. There were more physio sessions than training sessions.

Hard at work: Wesley Fofana during a training session at the National Rugby Center in Marcoussis

'We had no choice. That's French rugby. At Twickenham, the guys will be playing their 25th or 26th games.'

The matter is due to be addressed in June. How the money is divided will be of crucial significance to the power struggles between club and country.

Quelle surprise. But these concerns must wait. This is not a time for France to court excuses. And as the team flew on Thursday night to Heathrow and on to their hotel in Richmond, it was solely those 25th or 26th games, however vexatious, that mattered to national pride and to the immediate reputation of Philippe Saint-Andre.